AK · jury_instructions
Alaska Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction 11.16.120(a)(1)
Affirmative Defense - Renunciation
The defendant has raised the affirmative defense of renunciation. To establish this affirmative defense, the defendant must prove that each of the following statements is more likely true than not true:
(1) the defendant terminated [his] [her] participation in the crime before it was committed;
(2) the termination occurred under circumstances showing a voluntary and complete renunciation of intent to commit the crime;
(3) the defendant wholly deprived [his] [her] complicity of its effectiveness in the commission of the crime; and
(4) the defendant gave timely warning to law enforcement authorities or, if timely warning could not be given to law enforcement authorities by reasonable efforts, otherwise made a reasonable effort to prevent the commission of the crime.
Statement (2) refers to "voluntary and complete renunciation." A renunciation is not voluntary and complete if it is substantially motivated, in whole or in part, by
(a) a belief that circumstances exist that increase the probability of detection or apprehension of the defendant or another participant in the criminal enterprise, or that make more difficult the accomplishment of the criminal purpose; or
(b) a decision to postpone the criminal conduct until another time or to transfer the criminal effort to another person or to commit another but similar objective.
The burden is on the defendant to prove renunciation. The defendant does not have to prove renunciation beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, the burden is on the defendant to prove renunciation by a preponderance of the evidence, which is a lower standard than beyond a reasonable doubt. It means "more likely true than not true."
If you find that the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements of the crime charged in count _____ charging _____ but you also find that the defendant has proved by a preponderance of the evidence the affirmative defense of renunciation, then you must find the defendant not guilty on that count.
History
Alaska Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions 11.16.120(a)(1), dated Revised 1999. Prepared by the Alaska Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee; published by the Alaska Court System. The Alaska Court System states that these instructions "have not been approved or promulgated by any court or the Alaska Bar Association."
Provenance
- Source
- courts.alaska.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
333b3241390f89748ffd53f0cffc01d6c9e4886bbc580cfbd2915e330012485e
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